There are many strategies that are helpful for children when they are learning to spell words.

This file has an extensive list of strategies and great ideas about how to teach these:

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Spelling Minilessons

Spelling Minilessons are an excellent way to teach spelling strategies:

Here is a list of Possible Spelling Minilessons:

Word-Solving Strategies

• Using the strategies that good spellers use.
• Listening for syllables in words.
• Saying words slowly.
• Saying words slowly, listening for sounds, recording letters.
• If you’ve crossed out part of a word while you are figuring out the whole word, go back and write the whole word so you can get a good look at the new spelling.
• Writing high-frequency words correctly and quickly.
• Noticing and using particular letters or letter clusters (sh, ch, wh, th, ar, oa).
• Knowing what the vowels and consonants are.
• Writing words that begin the same (letter, or cluster of letters).
• Writing words that end the same (letter, cluster of letters, or same pattern).
• Writing words that sound the same but look different (homophones).
• Writing words in a category (contractions, question words, compound words).
• Writing words with different middles (ball, bell).
• Writing words with the same sounds but different spellings (play, wait, eight).
• Writing words that have the same letter that makes two different sounds (car, circus; go, ginger).
• Writing plurals for words by adding s.
• Writing plurals for words by adding es (boxes, churches).
• Writing plurals for words by changing their spelling (man, men).
• Writing plurals for words that end in y by adding es.
• Writing plurals for words that end in an f by changing to a v and adding es.
• Writing possessives by adding apostrophe s.
• Writing words with prefixes.
• Writing words with silent letter (gh, kn, wr).
• Writing contractions and observing the role of the apostrophe.
• Doubling consonants when adding ing or ed (if preceded by a short vowel).
• When adding er or est to a word ending in y, change the y to i then add er or est.
• Writing words where the /c/ and /k/ and /ck/ all represent the same sound; never use /ck/ at the beginning of a word.
• Including at least one vowel in every syllable.
• Usually forming the past tense with ed (even though you might hear t).
• Usually representing or following a long a, e, or i, sound at the end of a word with a y (may, monkey, sky).
• Writing words with common patterns (ake, ack, tion, ite).
• Positioning of letters f and ph (beginning); ff, ph, gh (ending).
• Exploring base words (jump, jumped, jumping, jumps, jump rope).
• Talking about what will help you remember how to spell words.
• Using what you know about words to write new words.
• Breaking words into syllables.
• Writing base words and adding endings.

Using References and Resources

• Using word references and resources in classroom.
• Using a dictionary for finding words.
• Using the spelling checker or thesaurus on the computer.

Procedures for Buddy Study System

• Writing words on a spelling card.
• Adding words to your Words to Learn list.
• Choosing appropriate words for your weekly word study list.
• Marking a buddy’s spelling test or buddy check.
• Giving a buddy test.
• Proofreading written work for spelling errors.
• Using the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check sheet.
• Mixing and fixing words with magnetic or other types
• Caring for and using word study system materials.
• Highlighting tricky parts of words.
• Writing strings of words that connect.

Here is an example of a mini-lesson about How to Write a Word Like it Sounds

Lesson Plan

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